Just Golden
by Mlle Rose
Summary: From rivals to the best of friends, when exactly did feelings start to change between the members of the most beloved doubles teams: The Golden Pair?
1. Golden Friendship

**Author's Note:** This is a Golden Pair fic which will become a part of a short series, assuming I get my rear in gear and get the last bits done. Part one is pretty much just fluff - a WAFF fic if you are familiar with that term. I plan to build it to a more adult relationship when they are a little older, but for now they are young and becoming good friends. Also, I mention Sengoku very briefly even though I was far too lazy to care or check and see if he was known to them before their third year - so if that is innacurate, it's a shame.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Prince of Tennis, Konomi Takeshi does, and I will make no profit from this work.

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**"Golden Friendship"**

"_But you can call me Eiji."_

What had been intended to be a way to keep his enemy close, turned into a friendship that could only be described as golden. Sure Oishi was plain, but his lack of intricate or interesting playing style was made up in his observational skills. And patience. Eiji hadn't really known Oishi before that time about a year ago when he had been quite peacefully handed his hide in a singles match against the quiet boy, but he had figured that Oishi was just that sort of person. He, Kikumaru Eiji, was a happy-go-lucky sort who always wore a smile, while Oishi Suichiro was a shy, kind-hearted young boy who wore his heart on his sleeve. Maybe it was inevitable that they would become friends. They were two halves of a whole, only they didn't realize this until much later in their tennis playing career – and their time as friends.

"Did you want to have a match with me?"

They were currently on their way home from Saturday morning practice with the Seigaku tennis club. Oishi looked first at his best friend and then to where the red-head was pointing. Public tennis courts, empty save for the sound of a lone player practicing against the wall.

"Sure," Oishi had been wondering when Eiji would challenge him again. Less and less it seemed to be occurring, which was a major contrast to the near begging every other day when they first started playing together. Oishi never asked Eiji why he had decided to stop insisting on the challenges, he figured he knew his doubles partner well enough to understand otherwise. Eiji was maturing, in a tennis perspective that is, and he was giving himself more time.

Standing on the court with the net between them, Oishi suddenly felt a bit weird. It had been a while since they had faced off like this. But Eiji was grinning like he always did so Oishi was quickly put at ease. "Your call." The blue eyes sent a joking challenge.

"Rough." He had already fallen into his usual, calm rhythm. The racket twirled, fell: rough.

"You sure you haven't been hanging around Sengoku?" Eiji teased while he tossed his friend the ball. Oishi chuckled, returned a counter statement, and then prepared himself at the base line. Eiji was crouched and ready to go, but his eyes weren't entirely determined yet.

"Don't hold back on me, Eiji!" Oishi sent his clean serve with a smirk. He wouldn't hold back. He wouldn't let Eiji win a match, not so long as he could help it.

It was probably around this time that Oishi realized just how important Eiji's friendship was to him. Having the bouncy, bubbly acrobat next to him at almost all hours of the day (sometimes even into the night) had become pleasant. Now that he knew Eiji he didn't want to let go of their bond. While they volleyed and, holding true to their words, gave it their all, Oishi thought he would like to keep working on their bond and test the limits of true friendship.

And from the other side of the court, panting as the fourth game was won by his partner, Eiji was thinking something similar. Oishi was his goal, that was the same, but now he wasn't aiming to take the boy's place on his pedestal, but to join him. Oishi was his precious friend, the person who listened to him no matter what he had to say and helped him with the homework he didn't get. Oishi didn't get annoyed by his childish mannerisms, even though he was rather mature for his age. In Oishi Eiji had found not a great enemy, but an even greater friend.

"You really aren't holding back! I though this was all just a game!" Eiji was preparing to serve, and Oishi was more than pleased to see the determination he'd been looking for enter the blue eyes.

"Then show me yours!" Oishi countered, not looking nearly as tired as Eiji did right then. It was true that the exuberant red-haired boy had improved on his stamina over his time with the tennis club, but he still had some ways to go.

"Game. Set. Match." Oishi grinned at Eiji, seeing the stupefied look on his partner's face at the winning drop volley.

"No fair!" He cried. Eiji collapsed onto the ground, his shoulders drooping a bit. "How do you always know when to use that?" He pouted while watching Oishi approach the net.

"Well," Oishi picked up the net and quickly ducked under it, "I know you." He smiled down at his partner.

Eiji was silent for a bit then he let out a whoosh of air with a chuckle. "That's so like you, Oishi."

The brunette offered a hand with a puzzled look. "What do you mean?" He helped Eiji to his feet, and when they were eye-to-eye Eiji gave a dazzling smile.

"What you just said: "I know you". It's just the sort of thing you'd say."

Oishi blushed, "is it? I never even realized..."

Eiji laughed. He didn't need to say anything, the joyful outburst said far more than words could ever portray. Oishi began to laugh too, and the two boys laughed until they were quite breathless, then laughed some more. The lone tennis player had long since left, and the friends were alone on the court.

When they finally settled down Eiji lifted his fist for Oishi to bump with his own. "Hey, you wanna go get some sushi from Taka's dad's restaurant?"

"Shouldn't we go home and clean up first?" Oishi spoke reasonably with his gentle smile.

"Oh...well, I guess that would be a good idea. Hey! Why don't you just come over to my place? Wouldn't that be easier?" Eiji was already dragging Oishi by the arm, heading for his house.

"I-I don't want to..."

"My family will be happy to see you, Oishi. Even if you did come over last Sunday for dinner." Eiji added just as Oishi had opened his mouth. He went to speak again but once more Eiji was faster, "You're my best friend, Oishi, it would be more weird if you didn't come over all the time, wouldn't it?" Eiji turned his large, innocent eyes to Oishi.

Oishi blinked, "how did you know what I was going to say?"

Eiji grinned, "I know you."


	2. Golden Beginning

**Author's Note:** Part two of my GP "Golden" series. I deliver more fluffy goodness from Oishi's perspective this time! I would like to also take a moment to apologize for any parts that don't sound very clear or poor grammar or anything of that sort. "My" editor is currently busy with school and is unable to fix my mistakes, so bear with me, okay? Thank you and enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** Konomi Takeshi is the creator and owner of the Prince of Tennis world. I have no rights to his stuff and will make no money off this piece of fiction.

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**"A Golden Beginning"**

When did it start exactly? When did those feelings of friendship begin to grow beyond the regular boundaries? To test the boundaries of our friendship had been the plan, but this was going further than what I could have predicted. I'm sure you felt it, too; the pain of not playing together was more than just pain of lost companionship.

_"Amazing, Eiji..."_

You had surpassed me already by that time. You no longer grew tired quickly, and your reflexes were sharper than ever. You could have easily overcome your major obstacle – me. But you didn't.

_"Singles is kinda lonely." _Do you have any idea how shocked, how happy, I was to hear you utter those words? A miraculous victory, you had shone as brightly as the sun, but you brushed aside everyone's praise and turned back to me. To me!

I think it was around that point I realized I was falling in love with you.

The inevitability of it all was frightening. Later that day I stood in the middle of my room and stared at the spare shirt you had left there for nearly twenty minutes. The last of the hour was devoted to rummaging through old books and boxes to find all the memories I could. When I was finished I was smiling. And that's the thing Eiji, you make me smile. You make everyone smile, but you make me smile for more reasons than simple amusement.

I kept it all to myself, though, knowing that the burden of my feelings might be too much for you. Young, bouncy, innocent...how could I weigh you down with something that had just begun? The seed was set, and so I allowed it to do as it see fit.

*******

"Oishi! Will you help me find some new tennis equipment on Sunday?" Eiji was topless, his tennis uniform shirt being held in his hands at that moment.

I had just gotten my own shirt over my head, but still smiled at my red-haired friend. "Of course."

There came a glint to his eyes and I knew he would not be dressing himself until he had satisfied whatever mischief lived inside him. "How about we play a match against each other? Loser has to buy lunch." He meant on Sunday.

I bent to tie the laces of one sneaker while using the bench as a footrest. "Sure, why not?" Eiji grinned. I wasn't looking at him, but I also knew him. And I also knew that I would be tempted to touch him had I been looking at him.

And here's where things get interesting. Both second years at the high school associated with Seigaku, we had both remained in the tennis club and as a result continued being "The Golden Pair". We spent an increasing amount of time together, whether while playing tennis, in class, during lunch or on the weekend, whenever we had free time we often looked for one another. Not to say we never hung out with anyone else; we still had time apart, but that was like the accentuating factor to our friendship. But time served as the soil, sun, and rain to the seed which had been planted back at the nationals of our third year of middle school. I was definitely in love with Eiji by now, there was no doubt about it. But it was hard to say what Eiji felt; for some reason I was unable to get a 100% understanding from him on the matter. Not that we talked about it, but there were other things. Like the kiss.

That Sunday Eiji and I met at the station. The tight shirt he was wearing earned him many appreciative glances, including my own. It was the same shirt he had worn when we had kissed about a month ago.

"You're early." I pointed out teasingly and Eiji pouted at me.

"Well so are you." I wouldn't deny that. But that was just one of my traits; I would rather be early than late. "I figured you'd come ten minutes early so I decided to show up so we could take the earlier bus." I was not as surprised as I should probably have been. May have otherwise been if it were not Eiji and if we did not spend almost every waking hour together.

"You know me far too well for it to be a good thing." I joked lightly.

"Don't pretend you don't know me as well as I know you." He was pouting again, but this time he poked me. I wondered if he recognized the jeans I was wearing – they were the same, faded jeans I had worn a month ago.

It was difficult to not think of the day. We had suffered a loss, the first in a very long time, to another acclaimed high school pair we had not faced before. Who knew the sorts of people you could meet at the public courts? It was by instinct we reached the container.

"Hey, can you believe that container is still there?" I asked with a chuckle while we stepped onto the bus.

Eiji looked over at me and smiled, "you were thinking about it, too?" Of course. But I wondered if he had the same reasons for recalling our "special place".

Surprisingly, or maybe not so surprisingly, all things considered, Eiji was the one to initiate the kiss. Laying side-by-side on the top of the bin we had stared at the sky while the sun set. I had closed my eyes, allowing the peace of the moment wash over me, but when I opened them again, having felt Eiji shift, I was greeted by Eiji's thoughtful face.

"This racket is nicely strung," Eiji murmured and I took the racket in my hands.

I flipped it in my hand. It was the third racket Eiji had picked up. "A bit heavy, though. It would be better suited to Momo." I smiled while handing it back.

Eiji nodded, "yeah...Hey, what about that one?" He reached up and grabbed another racket. While I took the heavier one away from Eiji I decided it was unproductive to give them back. His attention was always drawn elsewhere. "I think this is the one!" Eiji looked like a kid at the pet shop. Actually, he probably looked like that at a pet shop, too. He handed it over, "the strings are strung good and tight, and the racket itself is quite light weight..."

"How much is it?" I asked, not wanting him to go over his budget.

"Uhm...it is..." He grew a bit sheepish, then glanced at me, "thirteen thousand two-hundred and fifty-two yen."

We stared at each other for a long while. We both knew he would get his money's worth from the racket. But he had also just bought a pair of sneakers, too. And he was supposed to cover for lunch. So while Eiji smiled a cute, although sheepish, smile and I stared at him with a slightly raised brow we had a silent quarrel.

Finally I sighed, "alright. I'll cover lunch."

"Yahoi!" He exclaimed excitedly, wrapping his arms around me in a warm, excited embrace. I briefly wondered what this looked like to others, but then I felt his lips on my cheek and I lost my train of thought. Scratch that, my train had completely derailed and was now smashed into the side of a mountain.

I was stuck remembering the feel of his lips on mine. _"Eiji...?" _I hadn't been sure what was going on when he had been staring at me back then, but as he grew closer and closer my heart beat harder and harder in my chest. It had been a very chaste kiss, the only parts of us touching being our lips, which moved together slowly. He tasted a little minty, and then I had remembered he had been chewing gum. When he had sat up once more he licked his lips while he continued to stare at me. I knew I was blushing, but he looked more...confused? It passed, though, and he smiled, _"We should head home."_

"I would like a chocolate milkshake and a hamburger, please." Eiji smiled pleasantly at the waitress, putting on his best innocent face.

"Chocolate milkshake and a burger, got it." She nodded. I was impressed with her ability to shrug him off. Then she looked at me pointedly.

"A coke and a hamburger, please." I handed back the menu with a pleasant smile.

"Sure thing, it'll be a few minutes." And she was gone.

"You only got a milkshake because I'm covering the bill." I accused without conviction.

"Of course I am! And I haven't had one in ages." Eiji's eyes went wide while he put emphasis on "ages". I laughed. "They aren't that expensive anyways." He noted with a raise of his eyebrows.

I shooed away his hand that was looking to steal away my glass of water. "You're right. I just try to keep my daily spending low so I don't wind up broke too suddenly."

"Meanie..." Eiji grumbled. He had been cleaned out almost entirely after purchasing the racket. He only had a couple hundred yen left in his money pouch. But I only had so much sympathy for my best friend.

We ate our lunch in a companionable silence. Not to say we didn't talk, but we knew each other well enough to know when conversation was actually required. The food was good, the day had been pleasant, and the company was unbeatable. But every so often, when our eyes would meet, I knew that there were words floating in the air between us, caught in a messy jumble that would stay until we reached out and made it all clear.

"Hey, Oishi, you wanna just walk home?" I couldn't say that Eiji wasn't suggesting this out of an actual desire to walk, but I did hope he also wanted to make something of the mess between us.

"It isn't too far for you?" I asked, eyeing his two bags.

The bag with the shoebox in it got lifted up suddenly, "you can carry one and I'll carry the other and then we'll both be equal."

"Why do I get the heavier bag?" I asked, taking it anyways.

"Because Oishi is stronger." Eiji winked playfully and began to walk away.

We both probably knew it was going to happen. We had both probably been waiting to get to it, to face the issue at hand. It was time to examine the plant that had grown and decide what should be done with it. So instead of going straight back to the Kikumaru residence we wound up at our secret lookout spot on the top of the container. It's funny that neither of us felt too old to be still climbing up on that old thing and staring up at the sky until we realized we had been studying constellations.

"Remember that time our families went out searching for us because we were out so late?" I could hear the nostalgia in my voice.

Eiji smiled slowly, "yeah," his shoulders moved with silent laughter, "I was grounded for a month after that."

"And I had to go over and apologize for making you forget to go home. And we both had to beg our families to let us continue tennis practice." We started to laugh for real now. The sun was sinking lower and lower into the sky. In a couple of hours it would be filled with the colours of sunset. I was wondering how long we would be here today when Eiji turned to look at me with a serious expression.

"Oishi, we're best friends right?"

I nodded, "Of course. What would make you think otherwise?" I smiled warmly at my acrobatic partner while my chest tightened, preparing itself for impact.

"We're the Golden Pair. We know everything about each other, right?" He was beginning to look nervous and a tad scared.

"Eiji...?" I was worried. This was taking a much different direction than I had thought it would.

"No matter what we'll be together, right?" I reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder. His blue eyes widened a bit and he began to search mine.

"Eiji, why are you so worried? What's wrong?" I wanted to gather him in my arms and cradle him until he was calm again.

"I know you, Oishi, right?" I nodded, murmuring an "of course" while I gently squeezed his shoulder. "Then why can't I tell whether or not you love me?" I wanted to die the look on his face made me feel so bad. He looked like a kicked puppy, or an abandoned kitten; lost and uncertain and knowing not where to turn.

"Eiji," I sighed and allowed myself to hold him. He felt good, warm and right, and I felt my whole body react as his arms returned the embrace. I could feel his uncertainty, it was a friend's awkward hold. "Why did you wait so long?"

"What do you mean?" Eiji asked.

"Why didn't you ask me back then?" He stiffened in my arms and I knew he was blushing. He knew what I meant. He was struggling to find something to say so I squeezed him gently, "I've been waiting."

I think it was then that Eiji understood that my arms held him not as a friend, tennis partner, or even best friend. I held him because I cared for him, because Kikumaru Eiji was the boy Oishi Suichiro had fallen in love with. He finally relaxed and his arms were now wrapped around me in a more intimate hold.

"Hey, Oishi...I love you." Eiji leaned away enough to smile at me. He was blushing and looked a little uncertain, but I had to honour his boldness.

"I love you, too, Eiji." I couldn't help but blush as well. It was kind of weird saying it out loud like that.

"Hey...can I call you Suichiro?" Eiji's eyes were wide and innocent.

I blushed more. He seemed excited, and I suppose that privilege would warrant it, but I was still unable to say anything for a second. "Only when we're alone together."

Eiji pouted, "why?"

I smiled nervously, "it would be too embarrassing...nobody but my family call me by my given name."

"But how else would you get used to it?" Eiji challenged with raised eyebrows.

"Well, we could start with you only using it when we're alone together." I had to hold back a laugh at Eiji's defeated expression.

"Then I guess I'll have to say your name as often as possible whenever we're together, right Suichiro?" He grinned.

I gathered my bubbly companion into my arms once more, "Don't get too carried away, Eiji."


End file.
